While 42 people were accused in the Suryanelli rape case, the number of accused in Pathanamthitta so far is 58. After the Suryanelli case that shocked Kerala, the Pathanamthitta case is turning into another gang rape. The incident of raping a Dalit girl, an athlete, is a bigger crime than the Suryanelli rape case. Pathanamthitta District Police Chief V.G. Vinod Kumar says that there are a total of 58 accused in the case. All the accused in the case have been identified. 29 cases have been registered against them so far in Pathanamthitta, Ilavumthitta, Malayalapuzha and Pandalam police stations.
A total of 43 accused have been arrested in the case so far. One of the accused is abroad. He will be brought back to the country, the SP said. The arrest of those in custody will be recorded today itself. The police also found that the girl was gang-raped five times. The intervention of P. Deepu, a native of Ranni Mandirampadi, who was arrested on Saturday, led to the two gang-rapes that occurred a year ago. He met him through Instagram and met him in person at a private bus stand in Pathanamthitta. Then he took him in a car with two friends. They gang-raped the girl in a car parked near a rubber plantation in Mandirampadi. After this, the girl was handed over to two men who came in an autorickshaw.
The girl was also gang-raped at Pathanamthitta General Hospital. Four of them are accused. Another day, the youths took the girl to Prakkanam Thottupuram. They raped the girl by parking the vehicle near a closed shop. The police say they later dropped the girl off near her house. The police are preparing for a detailed investigation into the incident.
